Purple dead nettle is a plant I overlooked before becoming a gardener, but it has many benefits. I guess I would just totally ignore it when I was a kid? I don’t remember it, though my parents did little in the way of yard chemicals.
Anyway, purple dead nettle is like something out of fantasy books. With its anti-inflammatory properties, it can become salve for external pain management or you can drink it (in very measured amounts, mind) as a tea to ease cramps. I’ve already harvested enough for monthly tea for a year, and may look into making a shea butter salve.
There’s a multitude of other native and invasive plants with medicinal properties everywhere I look, it seems. It’s exciting how much grows without coaxing that can be used for medicinal purposes, as alternatives to relying entirely on other methods of pain management.
